Well we all have our own ways of doing things. I watched some of the videos, and well for one you need to mix the amendments a lot better before you put them in pots. No bacteria or fungi added, which IMHO is a problem. Natural bacteria are around, but it is nice to make sure you have the proper bacteria. I would never put anything in the bottom of a pot, if the soil drains well, it's not needed, and may cause problems, and 1 gallon pots are small enough without yet reducing size. the smallest pot I use is 10 gallons. Tomatoes are in 15 and even 30 gallon pots. Most here feel 5 is the minimum. Nobody here is organic btw. We are not at all concerned about that. I like to try and be organic, but at times it is way too limiting. You seem very inexperienced, well you will learn, no biggie. Some of my tomato plants are 6 feet tall, and 3 feet wide. The stem wouldn't fit in a one gallon pot, and certainly would be falling over, but of course they would never get that big in 1 gallon pots. One of the plants is a cherry tomato and has produced 300 or so tomatoes so far. I expect it to produce about 700 to 1000 tomatoes. Here's today's harvest minus about 15 cherries I have eaten I also grow beans, melons, lettece, squash, raspberries, blackberries, currants, peaches, pluots, cherries, corn, blueberries, ground cherries, and numerous other fruits. Mostly fruits.

I used to coordinate an organic Community Garden in a park which belonged to the City of Berkeley, California. We had to fence the garden in (with barbed wire on top) because of theft of the food crops and damage by roving dogs. We also had to lock up the tool shed because of theft of the tools by non-gardeners. (They'd sell the tools at the local flea market.) Most of the people gardening were middle-aged folks. We tried to get children interested, but we weren't successful. We encouraged a mix of flower and produce gardening because of the pollinators and beauty brought by flowering plants. Cottage gardens are gorgeous! We held potluck meetings once a month (in the garden) to share info, educate each other, and air grievances. Each gardener had their own plot. We discouraged the planting of perennials, unless it was something like an artichoke, which would produce food year after year. Once in awhile we organized work parties. Peer pressure got most of the gardeners to show up. We did our own compost. We had to build a large bin for that. We also had to do intense weeding a couple of times a year because nearby Bermuda grass, growing in the park, would encroach upon the garden. I doubt a rotating schedule would work. Someone will always be flaking out for one reason or another. However, if gardeners have their own plots, they will likely feel more responsible. Sharing amongst gardeners would happen naturally, if there is abundance of some items. If you wish to discuss more in depth, I can be reached at lornaf@zianet.com Please put "community garden" in the subject line so I do not inadvertently trash the Email as spam. Lorna

Living not far from columbia university, I have passed community gardening plots at 139 street, in riverside state park. These are rectangular plots, probably about 4-5 by 9 feet marked off by a wooden boundary. Over this summer the plants and stalks there have grown really high. I hope that helps! Here is a link that might be useful: article about community gardens in Harlem

Thanks for the nice comments about the garden, and the shed in particular. The shed is one of the things we are very happy with - now at least :-) Th shed that came with the house in 1999 was awful - DH could only stand upright in the very center as the roof was so low; much of the structure was rotting and tree seedlings germinated on the roof! But the straw that broke the camel's back was when skunks tried to set up housekeeping under it! We had seen a nice shed (I can't find my picture of it now....) on a local garden tour around 2005 and that became my inspiration. The first edition of the shed was a blue-gray with white trim. It was nice but stood out too much from the garden so after a couple of years I decided to paint it to blend in better, using the concept of the coloring of a big evergreen as my inspiration. It took a couple of tries to get the right color of deep green for the door and trim for the door and window. If I was painting it again I'd probably go a shade darker on the light-colored trim, but overall we're happy with it and it feels right for the space. One of the advantages of gardening in the same place for 20 years is you get to think long term and also see things mature, and can fix early 'mistakes' :-)